This disclosure relates to intervertebral spinal implants and to methods of manufacture thereof.
The human spine is a flexible structure comprised of thirty-three vertebrae. Intervertebral discs separate and cushion adjacent vertebrae in the spine. The intervertebral discs act as shock absorbers and allow bending between the vertebrae.
The human spine occasionally suffers damage (during accidents or from wear) and repairing this damage is often accomplished by implanting an intervertebral implant between two adjacent vertebrae to function as a disc prosthesis. Motion preservation intervertebral implants for use in spinal surgery are utilized to preserve motion at the motion segment that is impacted by the surgery. In general, currently available commercial motion preservation devices do not replicate the anatomical motions and reactions of an intervertebral disc. Specifically, certain implants restrict most motions at the impacted level to a limited amount of pivoting or pitching between the vertebrae. It is desirable to design and construct an intervertebral motion preservation implant that mimics physiological or anatomical motion of an intervertebral disc to repair a diseased or damaged disc to its original, anatomical dampening and motion limitations.